High Strangeness

High Strangeness

I want to clarify something at the beginning of this account. ‘High Strangeness’ events are not ‘High Craziness’ events. Usually they involve a small incident that causes a person to give a head-shake and wonder if what they’d seen was real. Small items might appear or disappear, or move to another place. For instance, the summer scarf you knew you’d put away for the winter might appear in the barn in January. Nothing earth-shattering occurs and no reporter would lift an eyebrow.

It’s tempting to file such experiences under ‘trash’ but small events can have enormous implications.

Following is a reporting of my latest High Strangeness event:

The television that I use as a writing monitor sits over a gas fireplace which is in a corner of my living room. My laptop was open on a small table less than thirty-five centimetres below, and I was on a couch with a remote keyboard on my lap.

I was translating Spanish lessons on-line and feeling quite productive when the monitor went black. I waited a few seconds before realizing the website wasn’t coming back up. The monitor flashed the HDMI logo on the upper right like it does when it’s powered but the computer is off.

That was odd. Had my computer died? As I scanned monitor and laptop less than six feet away, I was shocked to realize . . .

The laptop was closed.

Now laptops are designed to stay open; it takes force to push them closed. Mine could never have just fallen shut. It’s a seventeen-inch monitor with stiff hinges.

. . . but there it was. One instant it was open and functioning and the next it was closed; like an electron moving from one orbit to another, it hadn’t crossed the intervening space.

With a sense of disbelief, I set the keyboard aside and got up. The lights along the edge of the laptop were still on so it was powered. I opened it and the television monitor sprang to life.

The first thing I do when these types of events happen is look for a normal explanation. Maybe I’d missed something or misunderstood. I hadn’t moved from the couch when the screen went black so I hadn’t touched it. If there’s some obscure command that orders the monitor to close, I’ve never heard of it and again, I’d have seen it move.

Most people try to explain away these events even if they have to go to ridiculous lengths — but it was impossible this time. I was wide awake and typing when the laptop was suddenly closed without having moved. There is no normal explanation no matter how far I stretch it.

If it was a mental event, I wouldn’t have had to get up to open the laptop to resume my studies. I’m short on hypotheses and open to suggestions that don’t involve swamp gas.

As I stated at the beginning, high strangeness events can be small and easy to over-look but, by filtering them from our awareness and memories, we could be ignoring significant clues about the operation of the Matrix in which we live.

In the past, I’ve been reticent to share my paranormal experiences outside of close family and friends. There have been so many I was concerned someone might lock me up.

Regardless, it’s past time for this to be in the open. What people do with it is up to them. I’d prefer not to tell anyone ever but I’m not writing this for everyone. It’s for those who want and need to know. Perhaps it will help someone who’s dealing with similar stuff, and a bigger database of material can only be of benefit to us all. As an independent researcher, I prefer to work alone but, as I’ve depended upon the writings and work of countless others, it’s time for me to add my small piece to the puzzle. The loss of anonymity will have been worthwhile if my work is of benefit to someone.